Remember Me?.......

Hi there girls, I haven't run away with the circus.....

just in case you were wondering where I had disappeared to.....

A caravan wouldn't be big enough to hold my fabric stash, so I'll be staying put!!

Anyhoo, there has been some creating taking place and loved up Budgies have appeared on a N2M (new to me) blanket.

"Tweet Hearts Forever" first made an appearance around Valentine's Day and I had so much fun making them, I had to make some more......as I do!!

It's bright, it's kitsch but I love it.

 It makes me smile......

This little stitchery is looking for a new home, so if you are interested in purchasing it, head over to my Facebook page where it is patiently waiting for it's new owner to come and claim it.  

My stash of blankets has grown recently and I love the turquoise/lime green/lolly pink combos......

Lots of ideas have been forming, but I'm still working through my 'To Do' list and probably won't be playing with any of these ideas till after Easter.

The garden has been languishing in the heat and lack of rain recently but these beautiful Belladonna Lillies have added a spot of colour.......

It seemed that one day there were just bulbs sitting in the garden bed, then a stalk sprung up and  the next day there were beautiful blooms....

The Zinnias continue to bloom and bunches have been picked to pass on to friends and share the 'Zinnia Love'

The little, native, blue banded bees seem to visit late afternoon. They dart quickly from flower to flower and it's hard to get a good pic of them.

Two weeks ago a storm blew in and it was quite wild and windy for a time.

The rain pummelled the ground in big drops down and blew in against the windows.

The sky and the mountains became one under a curtain of grey.

The rain was rushing so fast from the roof top to the tank it 

backed up and there was a waterfall flowing out.....

The storm didn't last long and when the rain stopped falling we only had 12 mls, but it was wonderful to listen to it on the roof and see it and smell it as it hit the sun warmed earth.....

Tigger watched the goings on from inside the house.....

He wasn't keen to come outside with me and enjoy it!!

The Maples along our driveway have started to change colour.....Autumn is around the corner and that makes me very happy.

It's been a hot Summer, with very little rain and I think everyone is looking forward to cooler temps.

Fortunately, the nights have been relatively cool, so you can get a decent nights sleep.

Hubby and No.1 are over in Toronto, Canada....a quick 10 day trip, to play at the Folk Alliance Conference.

It's been go, go, go for them, with gigs at crazy times. They won't have time to get over their jet lag before they board a plane to come home again.

They've gone from high 30's temps...shorts and singlet weather to minus temps in Toronto.....they've also hijacked my little, pocket, rocket camera so I hope they got some great snow pics.

Rich played a gig in Huntsville about 2 hours north of Toronto and there were 2 people in the audience wearing 

'Yackandandah' 

t shirts which were purchased at a little haberdashery store in our town!!

Small world girls!!

So apologies for not being around a little more, but I am still visiting blogs and commenting .

Big THANK YOU 

to new followers, you are very welcome here at

 Sweet Birdy Love.

BTW have you heard about the raffle to raise funds for

 Gretel Parker click here

Creative and generous artists and have donated some of their wonderful work as prizes.......

Check it our, I'm sure you'll want to be a part of it 

Better stop now, before I lose you completely, hehe.....

Thanks for coming by, would love to know what you've all been up.

Take Care,

Claire

❀❀❀❀❀ 

Oops, almost forgot.....

We're getting our own little op shop in town, yippee.....

The most exciting event on my social calender so far this year.

In fact I'm so excited I baked a cake for the opening, shame I didn't read the email properly.

I'm 3 days early, oops!!

PPS....one more thing....it seems that more bloggers are now 
'no-reply commment' which means I can't reply to your comment via email which I prefer to do, rather than on my blog.

What do you do? 
Reply to comments on your blog?
Seems I might have to go that way, as I don't want anyone to think I'm ignoring them, as I truly appreciate every comment I receive....lot of head scratching, chin rubbing going on over this one

Clearing the Decks........

Hello girls, how are you all?

I'm watching the first episode of the new series of Downton Abbey.

Obviously not giving it my full attention as I am typing this post...... 

Have you been caught up in it or not?

There is a cool breeze blowing through the windows and I can smell smoke, hmmm........must check out the CFA website to make sure it's nothing too close.

I assume it's from the fires up near Harrietville which is a way off from here, so no need to put my fire plan into action.....

 This week I  finished off some more tea cosies which had been sitting on my sewing table for far too long.

I've managed to find quite a few blankets at the op shop recently..... so my blanket stash is growing somewhat.

Gotta love red and white

I certainly agree with you Mr. Wordsworth.......

A couple of little budgies made a brief appearance and will be flying off to the USA to live with Liz.....

Hope it's not too chilly over there....

I also whipped up this card for a friends birthday.......

A moment of inspiration followed by 20min of faffing and stitching.

A personal note on the back a piece of trim for hanging and there you have it.......

I resent forking out huge amounts of money for cards.

At some stage they will be thrown away....

This will be the year of handmade card....it's more personal and it gives me another reason to play, create and have fun.

I had a quick trip to Melbourne, last weekend.

No.1 and I saw Keith Urban in concert

 ( you know, Nicole's hubby!!)

Great show Keith.....love the hair.

 On Monday morning No.1 played chauffeur whilst I ducked in and out of a few op shops.

I spied this fab Cake Box, it's made of hard plastic and in great condition.

The base is pink, so cute.....thought it would be great for storing trims, ribbons or buttons but I really needed to use it for it's original purpose first.

So.......I whipped up my favourite chokky cake, slapped on some awesomely chocolate icing and then the final touch...

rainbow sprinkles. 

Don't do crunchy 100's & 1000's

Well, the cake was a hit and it's all gone, so I can now fill it

with sewing goodies. 

The warm weather has returned this past week and the cherry toms are ripening nicely.

They are so full of flavour.....it's hard to stop at one

The Hollyhocks are still flowering and I love this beautiful pink bloom. Reminds me of a ball gown, layers of beautiful, soft, floaty fabric........thought you might like a change from Zinnia pics

So I have been 'clearing the decks' here....

I've almost finished the last orders from 2012 and am not taking on any more new work. I have a couple of things I need to work on for an exhibition in March and a lot of ideas I want to try out.

 Tidying the sewing room is taking far longer to get around to then I thought, but it can't be avoided forever....can it?!!

I'm scared I'll uncover far more UFO's than I thought I had!1

Hubby and No.1 son will be heading off to Canada shortly and I want to use the time they're away to work on some new projects....

That reminds me, must search for Winter jackets as they'll be in for a shock. Temps in Canada have been in the minuses! for some time. Certainly a lot colder than the Winters we have.

 I have been absent from my blog for a little bit I've been playing over on FB and having lots of fun.

Come over and visit if you like, just click on the button on my side bar.

Don't forget if you would like to donate to the 

Gretel Parker Project

there are only 22 days left to do so.

Funds are trickling in and the total is growing, but it's a long way short of what they were hoping to raise for her.

I know I said it last post, but a

 HOOUUUGE

 THANKYOU

to bloggers who put their hand in their purse and gave.

You know who you are  and so do I thanks guys....

So what have you been up to?

Are you a sprinkles or a 100's & 1000's kinda gal?

What would you fill the cake box up with.....besides cake!!

Do tell.....

Thanks for visiting always great to hear from you .

Hope you all have a fantastic week,

Take care,

Claire X